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As soon as Goats have grazed,
A certain spirit of liberty
Makes them seek their fortune; they go traveling
Toward the spots of pasture
The least frequented by humans.
There, if there is some place without road and without paths,
A rock, some mount hanging over precipices,
That is where these Ladies go to indulge their whims;
Nothing can stop this climbing animal.
Two Goats then, freeing themselves,
Both having a white paw,
Left the low meadows, each on her own.
One was going toward the other for some good chance.
A stream is met, and for a bridge a plank.
Two Weasels could barely have passed abreast
On this bridge;
Besides, the rapid water and the deep stream
Should have made these Amazons tremble with fear.
Despite so many dangers, one of these persons
Sets a foot on the plank, and the other does as much.
I imagine seeing with Louis the Great
Philip the Fourth advancing
On the Island of the Conference.
Thus advanced step by step,
Nose to nose, our Adventurers,
Who, both being very proud,
Toward the middle of the bridge did not wish
To yield one to the other. They had the glory
Of counting in their race (so says History)
One a certain Goat of peerless merit
To whom Polyphemus made a gift to Galatea,
And the other the goat Amalthea,
By whom Jupiter was nourished.
For lack of backing up, their fall was shared;
Both fell into the water.
This accident is not new
On the path of Fortune.
Jean de La Fontaine
Translation generated by Poésies 123 with assistance from the deepseek-chat artificial-intelligence model.
Text published on Poésies 123: https://www.poesies123.com/en/fable-the-two-goats-jean-de-la-fontaine/